Mad Max

By: D.C. Cutler, U.S.A.

This summer, legendary director George Miller, at 77-years-old, has been working on “Furiosa,” his fifth film that takes place in the “Mad Max” movie universe.

Will we get a pinball machine or an epic video game when the film is released in 2024? When Miller’s masterpiece “Mad Max: Fury Road” was release in 2015, a video game was released along with the hit film. Was Avalanche Studio’s “Mad Max” any good? I found parts of the game fun, but other parts extremely boring. The graphics were amazing, and the driving gameplay was the game’s highlight. What’s not fun about vehicular combat, “Mad Max” style?

I watched “Mad Max: Fury Road” again the other night, and as I was watching it, I asked myself, “How the hell did George Miller not win the Academy Award for Best Director for this iconic film?” It’s easily one of the most visually stunning motion pictures I’ve ever seen. There’s really not that much story; the film is a big chase, and then, a chase back from where they just came from.

image sources: Flickering Myth – Cinema Solace on Twitter – Films Newsfeed

Charlize Theron’s performance as Imperator Furiosa was phenomenal. Anya Taylor-Joy will play a younger Furiosa in the 2024 film. I’m okay with the casting change, because Anya Taylor-Joy has been terrific in so many recent films and the Netflix miniseries “The Queen’s Gambit.” I hope Charlize has a cameo; or perhaps the Oscar winning actress narrates the film?

George Miller is one of the greatest filmmakers who’s ever peered through a viewfinder and yelled “Action!’” When I was little, I must’ve watched “Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior,” an action film that influenced a generation, five times in a row when I first watched it. “The Road Warrior” and “Fury Road” are masterpieces. You can say the same for 1995’s “Babe” and his segment of 1983’s “The Twilight Zone; The Movie,” “Nightmare at 20,000 Feet.” “Nightmare” is a remake of an episode of the original “The Twilight Zone” series, written by the great Richard Matheson. Playing the frightened passenger, John Lithgow gets the slight edge over William Shatner in acting. The segment in which a gremlin is on the wing of a commercial airliner during a thunderstorm, is still terrifying and suspenseful.

One of Miller’s great gifts as a director: he always knows where to put the camera when the tension is palpable. There are shots from “The Road Warrior” that I still don’t know how he captured. His signature chase sequences seem chaotic, but Miller has meticulously crafted them so well using storyboards and models, they become beautiful, choreographed anarchy.

If we get a pinball machine out of Miller’s “Furiosa,” I’ll be satisfied, but a video game…Miller will surely create an immersive world to play in.

The Homebrew Mad Max pinball machine is awesome. A commercial Furiosa pinball machine would be even better!